Enderle!

"Citizen journalism" apparently just failed its first significant test. A CNN iReport poster reported this morning that Steve Jobs had been rushed to the ER after a severe heart attack. Fortunately, it appears the story was false. We contacted an Apple spokeswoman, who categorically denies this.

CNN's iReport:

Steve Jobs was rushed to the ER just a few hours ago after suffering a major heart attack. I have an insider who tells me that paramedics were called after Steve claimed to be suffering from severe chest pains and shortness of breath. My source has opted to remain anonymous, but he is quite reliable. I haven't seen anything about this anywhere else yet, and as of right now, I have no further information, so I thought this would be a good place to start. If anyone else has more information, please share it.

Not even Apple can escape the fallout from the global economic crisis, with it's shares tumbling this week. That hasn't stopped Apple's executive team reaping in more than 120 million dollars in bonuses though...

Timothy D. Cook, Chief Operating Office does rather well being on the receiving end of some 200,000 shares worth at least USD $21 million. yes, you did read that right.

After the COO comes Ron Johnson, the Senior Vice President Retail, along with Chief Financial Officer, Peter Oppenheimer. These fortunate chaps get a credit crunch busting bonus of 150,000 shares each.

Jonathan Ive, the iPod design guru and four other executives (Senior Vice President Worldwide Product Marketing, Senior Vice President Software Engineering, Senior Vice President Mac Hardware Engineering and Senior Vice President iPhone Software) get 120,000 shares each. That works out at USD $12.5 million each.

I feel sorry for Daniel Cooperman, a recent recruit to Apple from HP, who has to make do with a paltry 60,000 shares worth just USD $6 million.

Microsoft aired the second in its series of new ads featuring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates, and unlike the first ad, we finally discover that the pair are trying to find out what life is like for the average person.

Mac developer Daniel Jalkut thinks the ads are genius: "They are so random, indeed so touchy-feely, that the universal reaction among the 'smart-asses' I know, is to declare them ridiculous, not-funny, and utter failures. [...] So if you think the ads suck, don't worry, you're not the target audience."

Thus the heart of the matter: The ads are not intended to sell Windows: They're ads to sell The Windows Brand. Think of it as The Soul of Windows. If, by the end of this campaign, we only think of Microsoft as the company with the weird ads, then Microsoft will have saved Windows' soul.

To the ranks of chief executives who blame those terrible meanies who run hedge funds for their troubles — Jeffrey Skilling at Enron, say, or Jimmy Cayne at Bear Stearns, or Patrick Byrne at Overstock.com — we can now add a new name: the one and only Steve Jobs. According to Jim Goldman, who interviewed Mr. Jobs today on CNBC after his latest razzle-dazzle product announcement, the Apple chief executive said the rumors that he had suffered a recurrence of cancer came from “hedge funds with a big short position in Apple.”

As Mr. Goldman recounts on his blog, Mr. Jobs told Mr. Goldman that he wouldn’t answer any questions about his health on camera — hey, the man’s trying to protect his privacy — so every second of those seven minutes was spent plugging Apple products. Every other tech chief executives in country must wish for similar treatment. Off camera, Mr. Jobs allowed as to how he could stand to gain a few pounds, but assured Mr. Goldman that he was fine. And then he brought up the favorite bugaboo of beleaguered chief executives everywhere: those short-seller hedge funds did it.

Appleinsider's Sam Oliver reports that American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu put out a call to clients on Friday, saying they should be prepared for a slight letdown at Apple's event tomorrow, September 9 unless chief executive Steve Jobs rolls out something unexpected.

"While there is always room for surprise, it seems this event may be somewhat underwhelming versus previous expectations and events," Wu is quoted commenting. "Over the past several days, Apple shares have pulled back as expectations have likely come down."

As for major Mac-related announcements eagerly and impatiently anticipated MacBook Pro and MacBook refreshes or more radical redesigns, Wu thinks these aren't likely to be unveiled on Tuesday as the focus appears to be on Apple's non-Mac businesses.

Microsoft's Brad Brooks looks at it this way: Even if people aren't talking kindly about the new Windows ad, at least people are talking about Windows.

Brooks acknowledges it will take more than just ads to improve Windows' image. The key, he said, are the substantive changes the company is making, such as trying to improve the experience for buying Windows PCs as well as getting machines up and running. Here, Microsoft appears to be taking a page or two from Apple's playbook.

Microsoft is setting up store-within-a-store locations at major retailers like Circuit City and Best Buy, a concept that Apple employed at both Best Buy and CompUSA. Microsoft is also hiring between 100 and 200 "Windows Gurus"--Microsoft employees that will be positioned at retail stores to help customers learn more about the operating system.

From PC World
Foolishly, I thought I could walk into the store and purchase a MacBook in less than 30 minutes...the store was just too franctic for me to be able to think clearly when I was making my order. The whole experience was un-Zen. I barely had a chance to reconnect delightfully with my inner child.

(Shawn's Comment: If Retail really freaks you out that much and that easily, maybe you should stick to buying things off Amazon and playing with your inner child...)

From DefectiveByDesign
Here is an opportunity to have some fun and get answers, straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak.

In every Apple retail store is a so-called "Genius Bar" -- a technical support station, the purpose of which is to offer help and support for Apple products.

You can use Apple's helpful online booking system (no registration required) to reserve time slots at the Genius Bar. There are currently 217 Apple stores in seven countries, giving us plenty of slots to book. We want as many people as possible to book slots this Friday, July 25, and Saturday, July 26. Why not book more than one?

"I'm from the DRM elimination crew at DefectiveByDesign.org -- I'd like to ask you a few questions about the defects Apple has designed into the iPhone 3G."

(Shawn's Comment: Yes - harassing Apple Store employees is *exactly* the way to get Apple to change its corporate policies...)

From MacTech
Intego, the Macintosh security specialist, today announced the release of VirusBarrier X5 10.5.3, an update to its acclaimed antivirus software that Macworld calls “the gold standard”. This new
version adds the ability to scan the iPhone and iPod touch for malware. VirusBarrier X5 is the only antivirus software that can eradicate malware from the iPhone and iPod touch.

(Shawn's Comment: If this app scans for non-existent viruses on my iPhone, can pay for it with non-existent money?)

From the World of Apple
Yesterday Apple posted two guided tours of the iPhone 3G and iPhone 2.0 firmware, the 38-minute guided tour is aimed at beginners to the iPhone, running through almost all the features of the iPhone. An additional 12-minute version covers just new features to the iPhone 3G and iPhone 2.0 software.

One interesting tidbit discovered in the videos is that the iPhone 3G features two screws on the bottom of the unit that sit either side of the dock connector.

(Shawn's Comment: Ummm...what? How is that an "interesting tidbit"? You're really grasping at straws, aren't you?)

From Information Week
It's hard to argue with some of the advice given by Rob Enderle, principal analyst with Enderle Group, about iPhone 2.0. In short, he says, "Wait a little while before running out to get one."

From iPhone Matters
Here at iPhoneMatters, we’ve come across pretty much every 3G iPhone rumor that has ever existed. Some of them are believable, others, not so much. We decided to take matters into our own hands and see what our friendly local Apple store employees had to say about the product they’ll be selling in just over a month.

(Shawn's Comment: No offense intended to any of our listeners who are Apple Store employees but they will be the *last* people to find out anything about the 3G iPhone. Any article/web site that claims anything different is moronic and should be put on your list of things not to read/waste time on)

From MacDailyNews
In a Flickr photostream, "Paint.It.Black" has posted a photo showing an Apple MacBook Pro on Steve Ballmer's lectern at a recent conference, "Business Leadership and Digital Innovation" something or other — which is obviously yet another Ballmer presentation focusing on things about which he has no clue.

He's probably using Apple's Keynote, too.

(Shawn's Comment: All very funny - it's a shame it's also not true. It's easy enough to make fun of Ballmer without making up things. Why not stick to the truth?)

Just as those living in shiny houses of self-righteous glass often end up surrounded by shards of their former sanctimony, so Apple Inc. now finds itself the increasingly appealing target of software hackers. And now that Apple's platforms have become more popular, hackers are getting motivated.

(Shawn's Comment: $1000.00 to anyone who can find any evidence of the above in the article)

From InformationWeek
As of the last day in February, iTunes had a total of 770 titles, including movies for rent and for sale, according to a tally compiled by Macworld.com. In checking the list of movies for rent on iTunes through an Apple TV or a computer, Macworld found 351 and 378 titles, respectively, far short of the 1,000-movie goal.

Apple also fell short on the HD promise. Macworld found 91 HD movies, with some of them not offering Dolby sound.

In announcing movie rentals, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said the company had signed all the major studios, including 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., Disney, Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios, and Sony Pictures. In a nod to DVD retailers, such as Wal-Mart, the studios agreed to make new films available 30 days after the DVD release.

Nevertheless, movie studios have been slow to embrace the Web for movie distribution out of fear of piracy and cannibalizing the DVD business, which comprises the vast majority of sales and rentals.

(Shawn's Comment: Why can't this guy put 2 & 2 together and posit that maybe it's because the studios are dragging their feet?)

From Macworld
Sunday’s inadvertent disruption of Google’s YouTube video service underscores a flaw in the Internet’s design that could some day lead to a serious security problem, according to networking experts.

ISPs in Pakistan were able to block YouTube by creating BGP data that redirected routers looking for YouTube.com’s servers to nonexistent network destinations. But that data was accidentally shared with Hong Kong’s PCCW, who in turn shared it with other ISPs throughout the Internet.

In San Francisco, David Ulevitch first noticed the problem Saturday morning. “I was trying to watch cats falling off roofs… and I couldn’t get to YouTube,” he said.

For the first time in recent memory, Apple Inc.'s stock declined after Macworld, its showcase expo in San Francisco. Generally speaking, the event highlights Chief Executive Steve Jobs and a slew of new products that have usually been kept secret for years. Apple's stock always goes up a few points immediately after the show. This year the stock plummeted. What happened?

(Shawn's Comment: Dvorak's not even pretending to be an honest journalist any more. As John Gruber says, "A quick look at Apple’s actual stock prices on the day of MWSF keynotes shows that, unless 2005, 2004, 2003, and 2002 are outside recent memory, he’s wrong")

There are a lot of flaws with the MacBook Air, and it is unlikely to be much of a success.

(Shawn's Comment: I was worried about the Air before I saw Dvorak "predict" it will be a flop. Now I *know* it'll be a huge success!)

From Macinstein
Steve Jobs has lost $214 million $220 million $1 billion since Macworld

(Shawn's Comment: Both web site are apparently published by people who have no clue how the stock market works. Jobs didn't lose a dime during last week's sell off - as he wasn't buying or selling stock at the time, he didn't lose or receive any money)

Last year, Apple dominated CES without even being there with their iPhone announcements. This, in my opinion, was fair game, since CEA scheduled the conference to overlap with MacWorld.

However this year there’s no schedule conflict. And the PR guys and marketing team there know this, and they also know that by issuing virtually ANY news (Mac servers? really? do they exist?) they are going to get prominent coverage. In other words, they did this intentionally to steal any limelight from the thousands (yes THOUSANDS) of companies spending HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of dollars at CES.

(Shawn's Comment: From the site's own comments: "If CES can be completely overshadowed by Apple releasing two incremental product updates…Whose fault is that?" Exactly)

From Financial Times
Chris Anderson, the editor-in-chief of Wired, the US technology magazine, has revealed he was hit with $2,100 in charges for using his iPhone on a recent foreign trip, thanks to a glitch that led him to be charged each time the mobile handset automatically refreshed his e-mail inbox.

He said the bulk of the charges were due to the fact that his iPhone was set to check his e-mail account for new messages every 10 minutes. The Wired editor said that he receives “hundreds” of e-mails every day.

“This is a phone that I wasn’t using,” Mr Anderson said. “I was simply walking around with the phone in my pocket.”

According to this article, there was a riot at the opening of the latest Apple store in NYC. Interesting that no one else, not other Mac News web sites, other bloggers, other online or "mainstream" media, all of whom were in attendance, witnessed or reported this "riot". And when reading the article, even the writer of the story doesn't describe a "riot" as much as juvenile behavior on the part of line jumpers. Hardly a "riot" by any definition.

I attempted to correct the original author of the story in the Comments section of the article but the site's moderators did not post my comment.

To make matters worse, the article gets picked up by MacObserver among others.

When the MacObserver reporter was informed that, not only was the article attributed incorrectly to the owner of the PowerPage, Jason O'Grady (since corrected), but that the "rioting" aspect of the headline seems out of place with other reports, the MacObserver reporter simply said, "I just report the news. I don't make it."

That would be fine if The MacObserver had reported the story correctly the first time. They didn't. And by using the dodge of "I just report the news", the MacObserver shows themselves to be not reporters of news but reporters of whatever the hell they feel like writing about - true or not, factual or not, news or not.

From Businessweek
David A. Goldstein, president of researcher Channel Marketing Corp said since PC retailing gross margins are normally 10% or less, Apple would have to sell $12 million a year per store to pay for the space. Gateway does about $8 million annually at each of its Country Stores. Then there's the cost of construction, hiring experienced staff. "I give them two years before they're turning out the lights on a very painful and expensive mistake," says Goldstein.

(Shawn's Comment: It's been almost 7 years now. Can we demand an apology from this guy?)

From A VC
My brand image of Apple these days is fear and loathing. I am afraid to upgrade to a new version of iTunes because it might make my music and video unusable or it might brick my iPhone. I am afraid to upgrade to Leopard because it might brick my MacBook.

I have a brand new iPhone sitting right next to me on my desk that I can't figure out how to unlock and jailbreak now that it comes pre-loaded with 1.1.2 firmware. So it just sits there on my desk making me hate Apple more every day.

From Apple Matters
I am very sorry to post this publicly but at this point this has gone to far. Apple Matters is a big site, and it runs on Expression Engine, one of the best platforms out there. At this point this joke is begginning to impact other businesses and I cannot let that happen.

(Shawn's Comment: "Apple Matters is a big site..." No, it's not. By participating in this stupid stunt, you show you are a small, *stupid* site)

The latest iMac, whose 24-inch version was reviewed, has plenty of storage and a relatively good graphics card. Good thing, because if you want to upgrade the iMac, you'll likely be swapping components, not adding them. The least expandable computer tested in recent memory (even less expandable than the Enano EX7200) has zero expansion slots; a single, already-occupied drive bay; three USB ports; and two FireWire ports. And Apple apparently thinks parallel ports aren't used anymore, because none are to be found on the iMac. What's next to go--the buttons on our mice?

(Shawn's Comment: Maybe PC World should stick to Windows based machines as they don't seem to get that Macs have *never* used parallel ports)